The Pokemon anime has enjoyed nearly 20 years of popularity largely thanks to the illusion of change. Ash may explore new regions and catch new Pokemon, but he’ll always be a 10 year old oblivious to the affection of his many lady friends and unable to win the big one at the Pokemon League. Similarly, his longtime foils Team Rocket are similarly static. With few exceptions, Jessie, James, and Meowth are bungling would-be criminals with an unlimited budget for easy to destroy Pokemon catching machines.
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While Team Rocket has tried to beat Ash fair and square for nearly 20 years, they’ve fallen short every single time. That was, until last week.
In the most recent episode of Pokemon Sun and Moon: The Series, Team Rocket definitively beats Ash for the first time in 20 years. Ash stumbled onto Jessie and James during a day at the beach, just after James befriended a Mareanie. Ash, assuming that Team Rocket was up to no good, sent his Rowlet and Pikachu to dispatch the pair.
But Team Rocket’s Pokemon are surprisingly strong this season. In addition to the poisonous Mareanie, Jessie also caught a rage-driven Mimikyu that hates Pikachu. While Pikachu and Mimikyu squared off in a fierce battle, Mareanie downed Rowlet with a Sludge Bomb. Pikachu soon gets knocked out by Mimikyu, officially ending the fight as Ash doesn’t have any other Pokemon to use.
Team Rocket understandably is in shock, as they’ve just cleanly won their first Pokemon battle against Ash ever. James starts to cry, while Jessie goes into a full on maniacal celebration. Meanwhile, Mimikyu sees an opportunity to finish its rival off and goes for an honest to god killing blow against Pikachu.
Unfortunately, before Mimikyu can murder Pikachu and Team Rocket has a chance to do anything with their victory, they’re interrupted by the wild Bewear they’ve befriended in recent episodes. Continuing a running gag in the series, Bewear scoops up Team Rocket and rushes them back to its lair to feed the team.
Since Pokemon Sun and Moon: The Series just broke with Pokemon tradition by giving Team Rocket an actual win over Ash, maybe the series will dump some other longstanding Pokemon tropes too. Could Ash actually age? Will he get a girlfriend for the first time ever? WILL HE ACTUALLY WIN THE POKEMON LEAGUE? It looks like fans will have to wait and see.
